Wire coating machine



March 24, 1936. P. E. BRUNBERG 2,034,794

WIRE COATING MACHINE Fild Jan. 19 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Razz 55 m Kim AwJTTO P VEVS.

March 24, 1936. p. E, BRUNBERG 2,034,794

WIRE COATING MACHINE Filed Jan. 19. 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 w. w. w. w. w.w w. w. I

,4/70/P/V5 ms.

March 24, 1936. P BRUNBERG Q 2,034,794

WIRE COATING MACHINE Filed Jan. 19, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Mar.24,

UNITED, STATES- .PATENT. 'orrics 2,034,194 4 jwmn con-mo momma: rim is.Brunberg, Williamsport, Pa.-, assignor, by

esnassignments, m e

to George EAGrifl', Wilapplication was, 19, 1934, Serial No. 707,368 9Claims. (oi. 91-.12.5)

necessary in the commercial execution of the process. o

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a plan view, partly broken away, of themachine. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the machine with partsomitted for clearness; Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of part ofthe machine. Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged sec-' tionsonlinesl-l and 5-5ofFig. 3. Fig. 6isa front view, partly broken away, of the machine. Fig.7 is a section on the'line 1-1 of Fig. l. -Flg. 8 is an end view, partlyin section, of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of Fig. "I.

The machine herein shown and described is especially designed to effectthe coating of, copper 26 wire with 'lead, although it will beunderstood that elongated metal'articles other thanwire may be coatedand that the elongated articles may be of metal other than copper andthat the coating may be of metal other than lead..

,The copper. wire a to be coatedis fed continu ously froma pulley binto, through and out of a metal bath in a container 0. The bath iscomposed of a mixture of lead and tin of permissively variableproportions but preferably about 35 70% lead and tin'.. Beyond thecontainer'c the wire extends over a pulley d in an'enclosure 'e' andthence through a chamber I containing the molten coating metal in thisexample lead.

for the openings hereinafter described. Itis provided with an inletcommunicating with a channel g through which the coating metal issupplied. The chamber is closed at the top by means ofza removable plughhavinganorifice of a diameter barely exceeding the diameter of the.

uncoated wire. The chamber is closed at'the bottom by a removable plug ihaving an orifice whose diameter exceeds that of the uncoated wire by anamount that predetermines the thick- 50 ness of the coating. The chamberis provided with a small vent or air bleeder a through which the airi'sexpelled by the coating metal as it enters and fills the chamber. Thevent may be providedwith a check valve or a hand operated Beneath thechamber 1? and spaced from it a slight distance is 'aplate m, which maybe of "metal, but is preferablyoi. refractory material, having anorifice of a'diameter at least equal to that ofthe orifice inplug i, thecenters ofthe '5 two orifices being in vertical alignment. One or more.burnersk direct their flame against plug 1 to maintain it at the desiredtemperature. Below plate 11:. is a cup n into and from which water, oil,orvother coolingand solidifying liquid continu- 10 y flows. Some of theoutfiowing water escapes at the bottom of the cup' around the coatedwire and the remainder overflows. Beneath the cup thecoated wire travelsthrough the lower end of a pipe 0, which is slotted at 0' l5 to allowthewire to enter it. Oil, water or other cooling and solidifying liquidis continuously dis-- charged from the'pipe. Below the pipe 0 are twowheels r ands bev tween which the coated wire travels. Below these 20wheels is a larger wheel t about which the coated wire travels to a.reel (not shown).- The reel should beef that known type which will pullthe wire through the machine at a uniform rate.-

The wheels 1" and s are carefully adjusted be- 26 cause their adjustmentis or may be exclusively relied upon to maintain the copper wire in theexact center of the wire outlet orifice in chamber f. The wheels arepositioned so that their peripheries are on opposite sides of andequidistant 3 from a vertical line coincident with the exact center ofsaid wire outletand they are spaced apart so that their peripheries areseparated by a distance equal outlet. l

.-At that end of container 0 into which the wire is fed-is a track 11.,which projects beyond the conto the diameter of said wire tainer at thesaid end. A wheeled .shuttle v is The chamber j is completely enclosedexcept adapted to run on this track. The shuttle is pro- 'vided with a.law to into which is adapted to be inserted the end of the wireto becoated. By

moving the shuttle longitudinally the end of the wire maybe pulledthrough the container into the enclosure e. The enclosure has ahingedwall x, which maybe v chamber 1, plate m, cup 11., pipe 0, betweenpulleys r and s, and aroundpulley t-to the reel.'- Extendinglongitudinally through the contents or c is a rod 11 whichis manipulableby hand to move bell cranklevers z into position to cause their'feet toengage the wire and press it down --below ;the. level of the lead-finbath in the cone melt the same.

50 the endsv of chamber 40 into which'm'elted chamber 20, through anried on tainer. I 0 are wipers, of asbestos or other suitable material,betweenwhich the wire travels on its way out of the lead-tin bath. Thesewipers rembveall molten metal from the wire except '5' a very'tthigillm.

Mounted on chambcr f is a chamber Ii, which is so packed with-asbestosor other suitable packing material l2 asto allow the wire to traveltherethrough on its way to chamber I."

a multiplicity of wires. The drawings show a machine'adapted to handleseven separate wires. So far, however, as the. machine has beendescribed, the mechaianismffor handling a plurality of wires involveserelya-multiplication of most of the described structural elements.

The molten lead is supplied from a vessel 20. wherein, if desired, piglead may be melteg, as hereinafter described. The molten lead ows fromvessel 20 into a ch u r 2| either directly or by way of adrossing u; b r40 hereinafter de scribed. Within chamber 2| is a pump 22, which liftsthe lead and discharges it into the upper end of a conduit 23 at a rateexceeding its 25 rate of outflow from the conduit, the excessoverflowing and dropping down into the pool of molten lead in chamber2|. Conduit 23 extends downward into a horizontally extending manifold24, which, through channels 9, communicates 0 with the several leadcoating chambers f. In

each channel is a valve 25, which controls the rate of how of moltenlead into the corresponding chambers f. The height of the column ofliquid in.,conduit,.23 determines the pressure of 85 the lead in chamber1.

u Above essel 20 is a cylindrical chamber 3| within w ch turns aconveyor 32 comprising a hub and rfial partitions. Lead pigs '30 are Iadapted to placed in the compartments, be- 40 tween the partitions, andthe conveyer is adapt ed to be given quarter turns to allow the pigs tobe successively discharged therefrom into the vessel 20, whichissubjected 'to sufilcient heat to 4 by means of a worm 33 operatinga'worm wheelon the shaft of the .conveyer. The chamber 2| is normallyclosed by a sliding door which maybe opened at intervals to allow afreshpig to be inserted. The door may be supported on v parallel pivotedlevers 30, one of which, by means of a connecting rod", may be operated,to open the door, from a foot treadle l8. Adjacent-the .melting vessel20 is a drossinglead flows from opening 2! (Fig 1). From. the drossingchamber-lithe melted lead ilows thro sli the opening 20 into the coveredchannel 21, through the opening 20, into the chambeifill (Figs. 1 and9).. A float ll is 'care end of a lever 42, which is connected,

bya link 43, with a lever 44 cooperating .with a scale 4.6.'I'herebythe' level of liquid in chamber and vessel 20 is indicated, sothat the operator may know when it'is necessary to supply; fresh pig oflead. a F

Within vessel 20 and all enclosures communicating'therewith ismaintained a non-oxidizing atmosphere; and such anatmosphere, as faras51 ossi l sim intainea 1 container 2: and enclosure e -By of-thedescribed machine, wire of 1 many diameters may 'be uniformly coveredwith a coating of many different 75 For wire having adiameter of I havefound it feasible to simultaneously coat ferent diameters of uncoatedwires.

ace-1,794

.025 inch may be-coated with a preliminary leadtin film of about .0005or .001 inch and then given a final lead coating of a thickness of about.012 inch; the final product having a thickness of about .05 inch. Each.wire may be run through 5 the machine at the rated about 35000 feet perhour. Ina multiple machine adapted to simultaneously coat eight wires,it is thus possible to commercially coat such wires at the rate of about6 V miles per hour.

' With a given size of annular outlet orifice in chamber j, the higherthe speed of the who the greater must be the pressure upon the moltenlead, or the greater the pressure the greater is the permissive speed.The greater the'size of the 15 orifice; the greater the necessarypressure with a given speed, or the slower the necessary speed with agiven pressure. Since it is desired to provide for coatings of variablethickness, the size of the outlet prlflce is a necessarily variablefactor, 2 and therefore speed of travel and/or the pressure must beadjusted accordingly. Itis most con- Qnient, as described, to provide a.head of lead which is constant and to vary the speed in accordance withthe size of the orifice. The size 25 of the orifice is most convenientlyvaried by providing plugs i containing orifices of the desired diiferentdiameters. -I also provide plugs h; containingoriflces of diameterscorresponding to dif- 30 What I claim and desire to protect'by' LettersPatent is:

' 1. In a machine for coating wire, the combination of acbntainer formolten metal having "a die in the body thereof through the center of 35which the wire to be coated is adapted to travel, of wire-positioningguide wheels so positioned as to. maintain the wire in the center of thedie.

-2. In a. machine for coating wire, the combi-' nation with an enclosedchamber provided with .40 an inlet for molten coating metal, awire-enteringorifice at the top and an orifice. containing a (heat thebottom the die having an orifice The conveyer may'be'turned therethroughlarger than-the wire to be coatedby an amount equal to the thickness ofthe 45 ;positioning guide wheels below said chamber to maintain the winecentral in the die, a containerfor'cooling fluid below the chamber andabove the guide .wheels and through which the coated wire is adapted totravel, said chamber having, openings through which the wire enters andleavesthe chamber, and a pipe positioned to dischargewooling fluid uponbelow said container. 3. In a-maehine for coating wire, thejcombi nationwith an enclosed chamber providedwijh an inlet formolten coating metal;a wire-entering orifice at the top and an orifice at the bottom throughwhich thewire and its coa g metal is. adapted to leave the chamber, of I-positiening guide wheels below said chamber, a burner "directed towardsaid bottom orifice, a sheet of refractory material- "provided with anorificethrough which the heated coated wire is adapted the coated wire7? sages through which the molten'metal is conveyed from said vessel tosaid chamber, said passages including an upright conduit the upper 'andinlet end of which extends above the level of the molten metal in saidvessel and the lower end of which is in constant open communication withthe chamber, and a pump adapted to elevate said molten metal anddischarge it into the inlet end of said conduit at a rate suflicient tomaintain a definite head of moltenmetal in said passages and saidchamber.

5. In a machine for coating wire, the combiwith the chamber, a pumpadapted to elevate said molten metal and discharge it into the inlet endof said conduit at a rate suflicient to maintain a definite head ofmolten metal in said passages and said chamber, and a valve in one ofsaid passages toregulate the rate of flow of molten metal into saidchamber.

6. In a machine for coating wire, the combination with a container"adapted to hold a bath of preliminary filming metal, a chamber adapted.to contain molten coating metal, the wire to be coated being adapted totravel successively through said container and chamber, and guidepulleys at the wire inlet end of said container, between said containerand chamber, and beyond said chamber; a track in said container, and'ashuttle movable longitudinally of said {track and provided withwire-holding means, whereby the end of the wire to be covered may besecured to the shuttle -and the shuttle moved through the container toallow the .wire to be drawn through and-beyond the chamber preparatory Ito the coating operation.

7. In a machine for coating wire, the combia,os4,794

'nation of a chamber having an inlet for the coating metal and an outletfor the coating metal; a die in the outlet through which the wire to becoated may pass, the die having its orifice larger than the wire by anamount equal to the thickness of the desired coating, guide wheelsarranged to direct the wire centrally through the die, and means forcooling the coating metal, whereby the wire is coated with a coveringofuniform thickness.

7 8. In a machine for coating wire with a protective alloying coating,the combination of a container for the alloying metal having an inletand an outlet forthe coating metal, a die in the outlet having anopening therein of a sizelarger than the wire to be coated by an amountequal to the thickness of the alloying coating, means for maintaining inthe container a head of the coating metal which will be insufiicient toforce the coating metal through the die when the wire is relativelymotionless but suificient to enable the wire when moving at the properspeed to draw the molten metal through the die, means for continuouslypropelling the wire through the alloying metal in the container and outthrough the center of the die, and means for solidifying the coatingmetal as it passes through the die.

9. In a machine for coating wire with a protective alloying coating, thecombination of a container for the alloying metal having an inlet and anoutlet for the coating metal, a die in the outlet having an openingtherein of a size larger than the ire to be coated by an amount equal tothe thi kness of the alloying coating, means for maintaining in thecontainer 2. head of the alloying coating, which will be insufficient toforce the coating metal through the die when the wire is relativelymotionless but sufficient to enable the wire when moving at the properspeed to draw the molten metal through the die, means for regulating theflow of the molten falloying metal to the container, means forcontinuously propelling wire through the alloying metal in the containerand out through the center of the die, and means for solidifying thecoating metal as it passes through the die.

PAUL- E. BRUNBERG.

